Saturday Aug 1
COOL TOOLSGoogle

Gemini Falls Off Mollick's AI List

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AGENT MODELISTEDGEMINI

The AI guide power users follow just dropped Google entirely. Ethan Mollick, a Wharton professor, cut Gemini from his practical AI guide. It has no agentic computer-use mode like ChatGPT Work or Claude Cowork.

A year ago the guide was all chat: ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini side by side. Today it's split by which AI can actually use a computer.

Simon Willison, the developer behind Datasette, flagged the shift on his blog. ChatGPT's modes are Work and Codex; Claude's are Cowork and Code. Willison calls the naming 'spectacularly unintuitive' even for people who use both daily.

Gemini Spark, Google's answer, hasn't proven itself yet. Whoever wins the computer-use race owns the workflow, not the chat window.

full brief & sources

⚡ Why this matters

  • Shows where the real competitive battle moved: not chat quality, but who can safely operate a computer for you.
  • Google's absence from Mollick's list is a concrete signal, not vague criticism - Gemini Spark isn't there yet.
  • The naming mess (Work vs Codex vs Cowork vs Code) is a real adoption tax on every team evaluating these tools.

🔍 What happened

  • Ethan Mollick's practical AI guide, updated regularly since 2023, dropped Gemini from its current version.
  • A year ago the guide covered chat models: o3, Claude 4 Opus, Gemini 2.5 Pro.
  • Today it centers on agentic computer-use modes: ChatGPT Work and Codex, Claude Cowork and Code.
  • Simon Willison highlighted the shift on his blog on July 27.
  • Willison notes ChatGPT Work on mobile behaves very differently than Work inside the desktop app.

💬 Smart takes

  • Simon Willison: the mode names 'do not map onto each other in any way that will help you remember them.'
  • Ethan Mollick (via his guide): "Gemini Spark has yet to prove itself."
  • Skeptic: a guide reflects one influential professor's workflow, not confirmed market share data.

🧭 Where this goes

  1. LikelyGoogle ships a more capable Gemini agent mode within the next two quarters to get back on these lists.
  2. Likelymore operator guides converge on the same 'which agent mode' framing over chat comparisons.
  3. Possiblethe naming confusion forces one vendor to simplify its product naming.
  4. Wild Carda third-party standard emerges for describing agent modes across vendors, cutting through the naming mess.

🥄 The Spoon Take

The most useful AI comparison isn't model benchmarks anymore - it's who gets to touch your computer. Google skipping this list entirely, a year after leading model rankings, says more than any chatbot arena score. The keyboard, not the chat box, is now the battleground.

🤔 Pushback

One professor's personal guide isn't a market map - plenty of teams still run Gemini in production for cost, not capability, reasons.

·Simon Willison - Opinionated AI guide·One Useful Thing - Mollick's guide·Agensi - Work vs Cowork explainer